Abuse, addiction, communication issues, divorce, grief, parenting, pornography, same-sex attraction, and suicide, are just a short list of all the challenges that the contemporary family is facing today.
Family probably is one of the traditional institutions that has suffered the most changes in the past years. We are seeing and experiencing so many changes that some people are starting to advocate the abolishment of marriage.
Psalm 128 makes clear that God has a plan for the family and He will bless it. The blessings will start in the individual or personal life and will expand IN THE FAMILY LIFE. That is the second step for the blessings of the Lord, the family life.
After receiving the blessings in our personal life, those blessings will flow to our family. This is what the psalmist says: “[3] Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.”
A – Wife/Spouse
The first person to receive the blessing from the Lord that comes from you will be your spouse. Today the kids are replacing the spouses. They are becoming more important and getting more attention than our spouses. The love and care for your spouse should have priority in your house.
I – Will be fruitful – The psalmist says that the spouse will be a fruitful vine. We are watching a bigger involvement of both parents in house chores.
II – A source of joy – That person also will be a source of joy. The fruit that that person will produce is joy. The word vine here means joy, since they were a source of joy for the Israelites. When we have the blessings of the Lord the marriage grows and we have joy in it.
B – Children
The next area where the blessings will affect the family is with the children.
I – Like olive shoots – vitality, health, and precious – The psalmist mentions two things about the children, the first one is that they would be like olive shoots. Olive, at that time, represented not only vitality and health, but also it was precious. The children would be like that, healthy and very important.
II – Around your table – close relationship – The second aspect of the blessings of the Lord over the children is the relationship. The psalmist says that the children would be around the table. That means a close relationship, something that we do not see today between parents and their children. More and more we are watching the relationship between parents and children being dissipated. With all the communication tools parents are still having a hard time communicating with their children.
The psalmist goes on saying that “[4] Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.” Who fears the Lord is blessed this way. That is what happens when you have your life in the right place with God.
Our families are special in the eyes of the Lord and He wants to bless them.
Have a blessed week,
Pastor Lucas